Early season panic is never a good thing in the NHL. It's usually an unnecessary thing, too, unless you're the Columbus Blue Jackets. So if your favorite player is off to a slow start, just repeat to yourself: 'It's Just October'.

Keep that in mind here as well, as we list 10 NHL goal-scorers that are sans goals early on this season. Some are in a little trouble; others are doing things beyond scoring goals that are helping their teams succeed.

First Goal Last Season: Game No. 4, in which he scored two goals against the Lightning.

Why The Drought? Booth was struggling mightily under new Florida Panthers head coach Kevin Dineen, as was his line with Scottie Upshall(notes). Booth had one assist and was a minus-6 before the Panthers traded him to Vancouver on Saturday night. One assumes he'll break the slump quite quickly with a little twin magic on the power play.

First Goal Last Season: Game No. 4, in a 4-point game against Vancouver.

Why The Drought? Getzlaf has two assists in six games for the Ducks, while his linemates Bobby Ryan(notes) (2 goals) and Corey Perry(notes) (3 goals) have both snapped the twine on multiple occasions. The trip to Europe to start the season may have monkeyed with him, too. It's obviously just a matter of time for Getzlaf; if nothing else this month, he had a chance to welcome the 1 millionth visitor to the Discovery Science Center. Which is nice.

Why The Drought? Going back to last season's playoffs, Hornqvist has gone 14 games without a point. He's battled injuries throughout the start of this season, and simply hasn't gotten on track for goal-starved Nashville.

First Goal Last Season: Game No. 3, in a 3-point effort against the Oilers.

Why The Drought? The Wild are still looking for offensive cohesion, but a big factor in Koivu's early stumble is the power play, which is 3-for-31 on the season. Koivu has 15 power-play goals in his last two seasons. But the dude gets a mulligan for this start, because he nearly was Zednik'd by a skate and turned out OK.

First Goal Last Season: Game No. 1, in a 2-point effort against Anaheim.

Why The Drought? Sullivan as a "star" at this stage in his career might be a stretch, but there's no question that the chances he's gotten offensively with the Penguins should have resulted in something on the board. He has three assists in 10 games despite averaging 4:09 per night on the power play.